About storytelling in Michigan or including Michigan storytellers. This includes links to find local Michigan, regional, & national storytelling organizations. Other issues of interest to lovers of storytelling in Michigan also are found here. Be sure to visit the Bulletin Board page for the latest information.
An important part of this website is the regular posting & archiving of issues of the email newsletter, "MI Story."

Great Buys & Great Times: Combine holiday shopping with entertaining your little ones with Mother Goose in Ann Arbor. See listing for December 7.

Make your stories better! Writers and storytellers discover an easy to use approach in a workshop offered by the Lansing Storytelling Guild. See listing details for January 12. Info: Jean Boley bolleyj@cadl.org

Give thanks with a tax deductible donation to Michigan Humanities Council for all the great programs it offers including one of the only state artist rosters to recognize storytelling as a distinct and worthy art. www.MichiganHumanities.org. Or even easier, make a gift online to the National Storytelling Network www.storynet.org.

WELCOME!

Here you will find information about storytelling in Michigan or including Michigan storytellers. This includes links to find local Michigan storytelling, national, & regional organizations. Other issues of interest to lovers of storytelling in Michigan also are found here. Be sure to visit theBulletin Board page for the latest information.

An important part of this website is the regular posting & archiving of issues of MI Story. MI Story is published by: Yvonne Healy, Editor-in-Chief; Judy Sima, Distribution Editor; Lois Sprengnether Keel, Webmaster.

To view the current issue or a past issue of MI Story, click on the Recent Posts of interest.

51% or greater Spoken Word/Narrative;

open to the General Public;

feature either Michigan storyteller or Michigan location.

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Transition of MI Story Archive

This site has moved to Blogger while keeping the domain name of http://www.michiganstorytelling.org . Because all issues prior to this move were added at one time, the listing of the first two years' issues is misleading. To find each individual month for those initial two years, look under April, 2010.

About Me

For the best overview of my work, go to my website at http://www.LoiS-sez.com, however you will find me in many places beyond that!

My storytelling takes you Around the World & Back Through Time with folktales to match your topic or historical reenactments. While most of my storytelling has been in Michigan, I've told in other states, the territory of Puerto Rico, plus Canada, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, & St. Kitts. My Theatre undergraduate degree influences my storytelling & graduate degree in Library Science leads me to research widely. Starting in 1970, I've years of storytelling experience. Until 2006, this was combined with librarianship. That year I was accepted into the MI performing arts touring directory & left Mount Clemens Public Library (where I was in charge of Children's Services) for full-time storytelling. My current listing with MI Arts & Humanities Directory was renewed & runs through 2018. My passion for supporting storytelling includes storytelling organizations, hosting http://MichiganStorytelling.org & founded Mt.C. Raconteurs & North Oakland County Storytellers, serving their 1st 2 yrs. as president. I was also a long-time active member of Flint Area Story Tellers. FAST and the Raconteurs are currently dormant. I also love to teach storytelling. I believe exposure to storytelling is critical to the acceptance of this art & foundational to language skills. Online I am an assistant administrator for the international network of storytellers at http://professionalstoryteller.ning.com. I'm the National Storytelling Network's Michigan State Liaison and for many years was on the Board of Youth, Educators, Storytellers (Y.E.S.!) Alliance as their webmaster. I also am a certified WordWeaving instructor, a teaching method especially suited to teachers & librarians, but useful for any beginning storytellers. I've training from V.S.A. Arts & have done both residency & special event work for this organization focused on bringing the arts to the disabled. I wrote a portion of the book, Tell the World; Storytelling Across Language Barriers, compiled & edited by Margaret Read MacDonald. My chapter was about telling with Sign Language.

Besides my website there's my blog of research topics related to my work at Storytelling + Research = LoiS and now includes a Civil War Sesquicentennial blog, Michigan's "Fighting Fifth" Infantry, where I posted the newspaper articles about this regiment which has been little documented, but was part of the reason Abraham Lincoln said "Thank God for Michigan!" as they engaged in most major battles of the Civil War. I hope you visit both the blog and my website, http://www.LoiS-sez.com.